Brisbane headed to Perth to face Fremantle with their premiership defence hanging by a thread.
Out of the highest 4. No fewer than 5 premiership gamers sidelined by harm, a crop headlined by Lachie Neale but additionally that includes Kai Lohmann and Jack Payne. Finals spot all of the sudden on very, very shaky floor, forward of a last fortnight more durable as every other workforce within the race for September.
A win beneath these circumstances was at all times going to be one to rejoice – however to so emphatically dismantle a red-hot Dockers outfit, to experience out Freo’s one burst and completely outkick, outwork, outgun and outplay the workforce that usurped them within the high 4 final yr, is on the Mount Rushmore of Chris Fagan’s best wins since taking up almost 9 years in the past.
Actually, let’s go additional: this was Brisbane’s best home-and-away win in a era. Transfer over, beating Geelong in Geelong a month and a half in the past, there’s a brand new Fagan masterclass for Lions followers to enjoy.
The 57-point last margin is each bit justification for the Lions’ close to wall-to-wall dominance, whatever the junk time objectives piled on with the match safely of their holding and Freo’s consideration turned to subsequent week’s conflict with the Western Bulldogs.
Briefly, it was a win arrange by Fagan doubling down on all the things that makes the Lions tick, per week on from a loss to Sydney that might simply have led to a radical shake-up – and watching on because the Dockers proved powerless to cease any of it.
Let’s tackle the plain first: the uncontested marks. Brisbane at their finest are masters of discovering pockets of house throughout the bottom and slicing by way of opposition zones with laserlike accuracy, and this match was that all the way down to an artwork kind.
Greater than every other workforce within the AFL, Freo dwell for the competition: solely Adelaide and Carlton have the next proportion of their possessions contested than the Dockers, whereas they rank third-last for uncontested possessions and fifth-best for conceding them. Over the past 5 weeks, solely the Bulldogs have had a greater clearance differential, too; therefore a top-five rating in that point for scores from stoppages from a workforce not famend for prime scoring.
The Lions’ technique was, in impact, to take that out of the sport. After which some.
The outcome was 47 uncontested marks to quarter time – the second-most of any workforce in a primary quarter this season, just one behind St Kilda towards Richmond solely per week in the past. And in contrast to the Saints, the Lions have been incisive sufficient with their ball use to toy with the Dockers’ defensive press, producing 15 inside 50s to only 7 for the quarter.
A part of that was the Lions’ capacity to get their most harmful kicks on the top of nearly all of these uncontested marks: Jaspa Fletcher had 5 marks to quarter time on his approach to 17 for the sport, Dayne Zorko 4, and the Ashcroft brothers seven between them.
Even when taking part in gradual, Brisbane by no means really feel gradual: the eyes of the participant with ball in hand are at all times darting, looking for, above all else, a brief goal, whereas the complete workforce forward of that man shuffles to open up these pockets of house.
The Lions had numerous examples all through the primary half, however my favorite is that this one.
Marking at half-back, there are a number of issues to notice from the unique set-up of a play that ultimately results in a Brisbane aim:
Firstly, Brandon Starcevich’s first port of name is to look inwards – Jarrod Berry has made house broad as a final resort choice, however his instant intuition is to open the hall. As is Zorko’s within the circle, who’s pointing (and presumably shouting directions) at Zac Bailey.
The issue is, because it’s arrange presently, that kick is inconceivable: Starcevich can neither spear a low kick to him with out it being chopped off by Michael Frederick, whereas a barely increased elevation on the cross is one thing you nearly by no means see on the Lions, as a result of it provides time for Freo gamers from all angles to converge and sure pressure a turnover.
So the system makes a refined, however efficient, tweak:
The change is straightforward: Bailey leads ahead at Starcevich, in direction of the ball, whereas Zorko strikes again inside defensive 50, widening the hole between them.
Frederick, who presumably has directions to not let the previous Lions captain run free, makes to comply with him – and it’s solely when he has dedicated simply sufficient to that that Starcevich darts the kick that three seconds in the past wasn’t doable.
Out of a gradual play, the Lions have, as if by magic, discovered the hall and utterly opened the bottom up: two kicks later, they’ve their second aim, having sliced by way of Freo so quickly from an innocuous beginning place that they pressure a one-on-one inside 50, with Brennan Cox panicking and holding onto Logan Morris to provide away the free.
That is the hole between Brisbane and the remainder of the competitors, and why defending them is so tough – few groups are courageous sufficient or in sync sufficient to do what Starcevich, Zorko and Bailey mustered at half-back.
One slight error – Zorko not making sufficient floor, Bailey going too early along with his lead, a poor kick, Starcevich pulling the set off too early – ends in a spilled ball, and at finest a stoppage in a harmful spot, and at worst a turnover aim.
In distinction, the Lions defend this identical model exceptionally effectively – and Freo aren’t the primary workforce to battle to maneuver the footy towards them and get punished for it.
That is from an analogous play a couple of minutes earlier, which the Dockers turned over and led to a Brisbane shot at aim.
Alex Pearce is definitely in a greater place to additional assault the hall than Starcevich – and notice the copious house that appears to be immediately forward of him.
However that’s a lure: Cam Rayner, Logan Morris and Charlie Cameron are all poised to pounce ought to Pearce try to hit up the main Bailey Banfield – the kick must be good, and even then dangers getting known as for not going 15 metres.
The opposite Dockers, in the meantime, are gesturing to kick up the road, the very reverse of Zorko’s directions: they’re populating down the road, a far simpler line to defend for the Lions, and so it’s there the place Pearce is wanting, relatively than inboard as Starcevich was.
The outcome? A kick to a contest on the boundary line, which is intercepted by Callum Ah Chee, from which the Lions surge ahead with but extra pinpoint passing and arrange an inside 50, the place Bailey is caught excessive.
It’s a system so well-drilled that it nearly appears psychic: each participant is aware of their function, and extra importantly, is aware of instinctively methods to open up house, and methods to shut it down.
What was fascinating is that post-game, each Fagan and Zorko admitted that the amount of uncontested marks wasn’t one thing they have been happy with at half time – certainly, it had made them susceptible to Freo’s inevitable counterplan from Justin Longmuir’s coaches field to start out the second time period.
The mark numbers dropped barely from quarter to quarter – 47 all the way down to 33 – and the Dockers grew to become extra environment friendly at predicting and pouncing on the Lions’ riskier passes required to search out the house that so brazenly offered within the first time period.
The outcome? Six ahead half turnovers inside the time period’s first six minutes, in comparison with one for the complete first quarter. With that, strain constructed, the Lions have been compelled extra usually to desperately hack exterior 50 and hope for one of the best, and the Dockers capitalised with a swathe of entries – 20-10 for the quarter, to be exact.
Similar to towards Collingwood a fortnight in the past, the Lions wanted a tactical rejig at half time – which they achieved completely.
Packing numbers round stoppages to start to manage the tempo – and clamping down on Caleb Serong to stymy the Dockers’ greatest energy – and drove the ball deep to a ahead line not at all times able to knocking down large contested marks, however that uniformly gives a contest for the Lions’ rovers to pounce.
By three-quarter time, the Lions have been +11 in ahead half contested possessions – some feat after shedding that stat by 12 to the Swans final week. And much more spectacular on condition that’s a stat most groups lose given the opposition will sometimes outnumber the attackers of their defensive 50.
Aerial assist is one factor the Lions present in abundance throughout the bottom: on this occasion, it’s Jarrod Berry coming down from a wing to convey a two-on-one aerial contest to the turf towards the taller Brennan Cox, bringing Charlie Cameron into the sport at floor degree.
Tidy end right here from Charlie Cameron ????#AFLFreoLions pic.twitter.com/tbAglHpMhq
— AFL (@AFL) August 15, 2025
Defensively, the Lions additionally lifted, again and again pressuring the Dockers sufficient to show harmful gamers into scrubbed kicks and turnovers – with two rundown tackles in a minute, Josh Dunkley epitomises this to a tee, along with his defensive work since arriving on the Lions on the finish of 2022 a major cause why they’ve made the final two grand finals.
The Lions have a cheerful knack of getting in game-saving touches, or spoils, or tackles, or bumps on the good time – living proof, Josh Treacy outmarking Brandon Starcevich 10 metres out and waltzing to the aim line, just for Ryan Lester, having saved alert to him taking part in on the place different groups may need switched off assuming a set shot was inevitable, closing down and shunting him off the ball simply when the aim appeared sure.
That is the explanation Freo’s kicking effectivity inside their ahead half was a measily 45 per cent, and why regardless of equal ahead half intercept numbers, the Lions piled on eight objectives to a few from them.
Brisbane don’t quit till the second a aim is pencilled into everybody’s footy file. That defensive vigour isn’t one thing we discuss sufficient from them.
The reward for a top-four rival comfortably bested is, for now, second spot on the ladder, reinvigorated hopes of ending the home-and-away season within the high 4, and – and that is key – aura restored.
An away qualifying last, if that’s certainly their future, will maintain no fears – and Adelaide and particularly Geelong received’t be eager in any respect on internet hosting them. And may issues go improper from right here and the Lions have to do it from exterior the highest 4, effectively, we all know that received’t concern them both.
For an extended, very long time, Fagan’s Lions have been a great workforce that constantly fell frustratingly wanting being nice.
That has effectively and actually modified now – and as large a cause as any for it’s the man on the helm, who should certainly now begin being talked about as a contemporary teaching nice.
